IX COORDINATOR: Intent Of New Rules Is To Treat Both Sides Equally
The Department of Education recently announced sweeping changes to Title IX rules at colleges and universities. Several Central Western University administrators, including CWU’s IX coordinator and the head of rights and responsibilities, said the changes will give more fairness and equity to the process. Staci Sleigh-Layman, the executive director of Human Resources and the Title IX coordinator at CWU, said rules established during the Obama administration were “victim-centered”, and these new rules aim to treat both sides fairly. “I think the overriding concern in the past has been ‘how do we protect the complainant?’” Sleigh-Layman said. The previous rules were designed to ensure an accuser’s dignity, prevent any retaliatory behavior in their classes and prevent intimidation. Sleigh-Layman said the old rules raised fears of accused students being “railroaded through a system” and not given due process.
“These changes right now are really in response to that concern,” Sleigh-Layman said. “These new changes give a lot of credibility and due process and equal kind of attention to the person accused as well as the person coming forward.” The intent of the new rules is to treat both sides equally. “I think what these rules do now is they try to balance that concern, and so they put in place a process that seeks to provide due process for both sides,” Sleigh-Layman said.
Colleges in the state are also waiting from the Washington State Attorney General’s office on how to proceed. Sleigh-Layman said the hope is these guidelines will hopefully allow the new rules to be implemented uniformly at all universities in the state. The guidelines are expected by the end of June, which will allow CWU to finalize their procedures before the August deadline.
cwuobserver.com-Mitchell Roland
